Regular longtime readers may remember roots rock and country outfit Pure Grain — based in Southern Indiana near Cincinnati, the group’s “Out of the Storm” record from 2009 graced these halls (and my erstwhile “Exit Only” back-page column in Truckers News) partly on account of their lead vocalist at the time, Chris “Carolina Kid” Taber, a then recently former long-haul CDL driver. You can read Taber’s story as it stood in ’09 at that previous link.
Taber left the band and music altogether in 2012, reports Pure Grain bandleader Brian DeBruler, along with news that the other reason I wrote about the band, outside of the quality of their music, has recently passed quite a significant milestone.
As he posted on Facebook earlier this week, the first video he and Michelle D’Amico (also husband and wife and now proud parents of a young daughter) ever produced for the band, for its “Truckin Song,” recently passed 1 million views on Youtube.
That’s a lot of eyes on and ears tuned to a song that remains well outside the mainstream of music. DeBruler went on to the credit the support of venues like Truckers News, the Dave Nemo Show and other Sirius XM programs for getting it out there, likewise “every truck driver out there on the road… Truckers keep America and Pure Grain rolling!”
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Since the 2009 release of the song and the “Out of the Storm” record, the band has toured extensively around the nation, performing anywhere from hometown honky-tonks to state fairs and large outdoor festivals like the Country USA show in Oshkosh, Wis. The band’s also released two more records in “Sowing Seeds”(2011) and “Indiana Sun”(2015).
Over the years, too, says DeBruler, “we have met many drivers, online and in person making appearances at MATS, talking with drivers live on the Dave Nemo show, and performing at other regional trucking events like Expedite Expo. I think there is a huge parallel between being and independent artist and a commercial driver, just look at artists like Dale Watson. As traveling musicians we face similar challenges: if the wheels aint turnin’, we ain’t earnin’.
